Blade holding device



Sept. 22, 1959 w BAUM BLADE HOLDING DEVICE Filed March 5, 1958 inventor Wendell 60mm 7N dil'i'orw United States Patent BLADE HOLDING DEVICE Wendell E. Baum, Ottnmwa, Iowa Application March 5, 1958, Serial No. 719,290

1 Claim. (Cl. 30-162) This invention relates to a retractable blade knife and more particularly to a handle mechanism holding a razor blade.

There have been many handle means for holding ordinary razor blades. Usually such handle sheaths are rather fragile and hold highly flexible double edge razor blades. While such cutting means do serve many useful purposes, they are not strong or rigid enough for heavy duty such as the cutting of cartons, heavy cardboard, roofing materials, linoleum, and like. Also, many such herebefore devices had a bolt means for holding the blade in extended or retracted condition and which required manual manipulation to loosen and to tighten the bolt means. Still another objection to such razor blade holders wasthe difliculty in removing the worn out blade and replacing with a new blade.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a handle for holding and sheathing a razor blade that provides rigid support at each side of the blade whereby the unit will successfully sever heavy stock.

A further object of this invention is to provide a razor blade holding means that does not employ a bolt holding and tightening means for securing the razor blade.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a razor blade holding handle that permits easy replacement of blades.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a handle means for holding and sheathing a heavy duty razor blade that is economical in manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my device with the razor blade in cutting position,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of my razor blade holder with the razor blade in a retracted position,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of my razor blade holder taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 and more fully illustrates its construction,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the device showing the blade extended and is taken from line 44 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the cutting end portion of my device illustrating its use in cutting heavy stock, such as carton walls.

With my handle holding means I use an ordinary heavy one-edge safety razor blade 10. Such common and well known blades have a reinforced and thickened back portion 11 and a central slot opening 12 as shown in Fig. 4. The numeral 13 designates the handle portion of my device which may be of any suitable form and may be an item of utility such as a price and date stamper used in stores. I, however, am concerned only with the head end 14 of the device and which extends forwardly from the handle 13. This head is of an elongated cylinder as shown in Fig. l and has its forward free end formed into two planes, i.e., the upper half end 15 is transverse of its longitudinal length and its lower half end 16 extends down-' ward and rearwardly relative to its longitudinal length.

This end structure is illustrated in Fig. 5. Formed in the the end plane 16, to provide an elongated groove 18 toaccommodate the reinforcing back flange 11 of the razorblade as shown in Fig. 3. In the inner circular side wall of the well are two spaced apart depressions 19 and 20 as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 21 designates an elongated bar, one-half circle in cross section and complementary to and longitudinally slidable in the bearing well 17. The flat side of the bar slidably engages the fiat side of the well, as its circular side slidably engages the circular side of the well. The bar also cuts across the end planes 15 and 16 and in its upper flat side area is a groove 22 opposite the groove 18 to accommodate the reinforcing back flange 11 of the razor blade. When a razor blade is in my holder, its thickened back flange 11 will be engaged and embraced by the complementary grooves 18 and 22, thus preventing the razor blade from lateral movement but not longitudinal sliding movement relative to the head 14. On the center of the flat side of the bar is a projection 23, extending into the slot opening 12 of the razor blade, thereby preventing longitudinal movement relative to the slidable bar 21. By this arrangement, when the bar is slid forwardly it will carry the forward cutting corner of the razor blade beyond the end plane 16 of the head, inasmuch as the blade is so positioned on the bar that this corner of the razor extends forwardly of the lower end plane 24, which extends downwardly and rearwardly parallel with the end plane 16 of the head. The upper end plane 25 of the bar is transverse of the longitudinal length of the bar and parallel with end plane 15 of the head. Thus, when the end planes 24 and 25 are flush with the end planes 15 and 16, the free end of the tool will appear solid, with the cutting corner of the blade protruding beyond the end planes 16 and 24, as shown in Fig. 1. These two end planes 16 and 24 provide a sled surface at each side of the blade and this guiding and stop surface extends downwardly and rearwardly when the tool is horizontally held. In cutting a carton wall or like 26, the tool will be held at an angle and the lower end plane will extend horizontally rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 5. The depth of the out being made will be that of the distance the cutting corner of the blade extends beyond the tool. In the bar, I form a well 27 in the curved side of the bar. In this well is a springloaded ball catch 28 capable of selectively yieldingly engaging the two depressions 19 and 20. When the bar is manually slid forwardly to extend the blade this ball catch will be engaging the depression 20 and when slid rearwardly to completely sheathe the blade, it will yieldingly engage the depression 19. Therefore, the ball catch will yieldingly and effectively hold the bar in any desired position it is placed. To make possible the manual sliding movement of the bar I have provided an elongated slot opening 30 in the side of the head as shown in Fig. 5. The numeral 31 designates a headed cap screw threaded into the bar and with its head slidable in the slot opening 30. To move the bar forwardly, the thumb of the user is placed on the head of the cap screw and the cap screw Patented Sept. 22, 1959" head is forced forwardly in the slot 30. The slot 30 is so positioned that when the cap screw engages the forward end of the slot, the forward end of the bar will be flush with the forward end of the head 14. As long as this cap screw is in place, the bar cannot he slid forwardly from and out of the head 14. To retract the blade, the head of the cap screw is manually slid to the rear of the slot 30 at which time the ball catch will engage the depression 19 and hold the blade sheathed as shown in Fig. 2; To change a razor blade, the bar must be completely removed from the head. To do this, the cap screw is unscrewed from the bar, at which time the bar may be slid from the head 14, carrying with it the safety razor blade. The old blade is lifted from the flat side of the bar, and a new blade (or the old one turned over) is placed into position on the bar. The bar with its blade is slid back into the Well of the head, and the cap screw placed in the slot 30 and threaded into the bar. The cap screw serves no purpose in holding the blade. It merely acts as a stop in two directions of the sliding movement of the bar, and also serves as a contact member for the manual reciprocation of the bar. The end of the tool is circular in cross section, thereby giving substantial wide support at each side of the blade when it is extended. This not only strengthens the blade for heavy usage but provides wide stop means at each side of the blade to limit the penetration of the blade into the stock to be cut. My device, due to its heavy construction, is most safe in use.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my blade holding device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

In combination, a head member having a forward end area at an angle to its length and a well in its forward end, a blade slidable in the well of said head member, a bar engaging one side of said blade, secured to said blade, and slidably mounted in the well of said head member, a depression on the wall of the well of said head member, a spring loaded catch member on said bar capable of selectively entering and 'yi'el'din'gl'y engaging said depression for yieldingly holding said'bar and blade in a forward position, a second depression in the wall of the well of said head member, and capable of being'selectively entered and yieldingly engaged by said catch member, an elongated slot opening in said head member communicating with said bar, a headed cap screw detachably threaded into said bar and having its head slidable in said slot opening; said blade having a back strengthening flange and positioned between the said bar and the wall of the well of said head member, and a groove in both said bar and the wall of said well of said head member in engagement with the flange of said blade; said bar and said blade capable of being slidably detached from the well of said head member when said cap screw is detached from said bar and slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 470,777 Billings Mar. 15, 1892 1,500,550 DHondt July 8, 1924 2,242,936 Beaver May 20, 1941 2,589,128 Podjaski Mar. 11, 1952 2,683,309 Unsinger July 13, 1954 

